小王子坐在一塊石頭上,抬眼望著天空,
"I wonder," he said, whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again...
說道:“我捉摸這些星星閃閃發(fā)亮是否為了讓每個人將來有一天都能重新找到自己的星球。
Look at my planet. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!
看,我那顆行星。它恰好在我們頭頂上,可是,它離我們好遠(yuǎn)喲!
"It is beautiful," the snake said. "What has brought you here?"
“它很美。”蛇說,“你到這里來干什么呢?”
"I have been having some trouble with a flower," said the little prince.
“我和一朵花鬧了別扭。”小王子說。
"Ah!" said the snake.
“啊!”蛇說道。
And they were both silent.
于是他們都沉默下來。
"Where are the men?" the little prince at last took up the conversation again. "It is a little lonely in the desert... "
“人在什么地方?”小王子終于又開了腔。“在沙漠上,真有點孤獨…”
"It is also lonely among men," the snake said.
“到了有人的地方,也一樣孤獨。”蛇說。
The little prince gazed at him for a long time.
小王子長時間地看著蛇。
"You are a funny animal," he said at last. "You are no thicker than a finger... "
“你是個奇怪的動物,細(xì)得象個手指頭…。”小王子終于說道。
"But I am more powerful than the finger of a king," said the snake.
“但我比一個國王的手指更有威力。”蛇說道。
The little prince smiled.
小王子微笑著說,
You are not very powerful. You haven't even any feet. You cannot even travel...
你并不那么有威力,你連腳都沒有,你甚至都不能旅行…
"I can carry you farther than any ship could take you," said the snake.
“我可以把你帶到很遠(yuǎn)的地方去,比一只船能去的地方還要遠(yuǎn)。”蛇說道。
He twined himself around the little prince's ankle, like a golden bracelet.
蛇就盤結(jié)在小王子的腳腕子上,象一只金鐲子。
"Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came," the snake spoke again. "But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star... "
“被我碰觸的人,我就把他送回老家去。”蛇還說,“可是你是純潔的,而且是從另一個星球上來的…”
The little prince made no reply.
小王子什么也沒有回答。
"You move me to pity, you are so weak on this Earth made of granite," the snake said.
在這個花崗石的地球上,你這么弱小,我很可憐你。
I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can.
如果你非常懷念你的星球,那時我可以幫助你。我可以.
"Oh! I understand you very well," said the little prince. "But why do you always speak inriddles?"
“啊!我很明白你的意思。”小王子說,“但是你為什么說話總是象讓人猜謎語似的?”
"I solve them all," said the snake.
“這些謎語我都能解開的。”蛇說。
And they were both silent.
于是他們又都沉默起來。